Coaching hires have Big Ten on upswing

The Big Ten Conference's resurgence can be traced to the best of the league's recent coaching hires.

John Supinie

The Big Ten Conference's resurgence can be traced to the best of the league's recent coaching hires.

Michigan may end an 11-year NCAA Tournament drought in John Beilein's second year. Tom Crean, who led Marquette to the Final Four behind Dwyane Wade, is expected to rebuild Indiana in a hurry. While Todd Lickliter has work to do at Iowa, Purdue has soared behind Matt Painter and Ohio State has played for an NCAA title with Thad Matta.

But no hire was more significant -- and unexpected -- than Minnesota grabbing Tubby Smith in the spring of 2007, when he left Kentucky and its dissatisfied fans. The coach who led Kentucky to the 1998 national title put Minnesota on the map and gave the Big Ten another big-name coach.

"I thought that it was an incredible coup to get Tubby,'' said Michigan State coach Tom Izzo. "Because he's such a great coach and a great person, he would be a tremendous addition to the Big Ten and bring instant credibility.''

When Minnesota hosts No. 19 Illinois Thursday in a Big Ten Conference game at Williams Arena, the Gophers attempt to snap a 20-game losing streak to the Illini. After setting a school record with 22 losses in the season before Smith arrived, Smith has the Gophers making a run toward their first NCAA berth in four years.

No wonder his name is hot in the coaching rumor mill. Already mentioned in Arizona after the retirement of Lute Olson and Maryland if a move is made with Gary Williams, Smith became part of the speculation in Alabama after Mark Gottfried quit earlier this week.

Of course, what's good for the league could be tough on league coaches.

"Double jeopardy,'' said Illinois coach Bruce Weber. "It's great for the league. At the same time, it's bad for us and all the coaches. You know they'll be competitive. What he did at Tulsa, then Georgia. Winning a national championship and the success at Kentucky, he was going to come in and get those guys to play at a high level.''

It didn't take long. After guiding leftovers from the Dan Monson/Jim Molinari era to the NIT last season and extending his streak of 20-win seasons to 15, Smith has had Minnesota as high as No. 18 in the top 25 this year behind depth, the scoring of guard Lawrence Westbrook and relentless defense.

If Illinois is the season's biggest surprise in the Big Ten, Minnesota isn't far behind.

"In our situation, there was a coaching change,'' Smith said. "In Bruce's situation, it was a personnel change. It looks like they're playing together and doing a lot of things well. We've improved our guys, trying to hold everybody accountable and responsible for their development, individually and collectively. It's why we're playing better. Each player improved his skill level.''

Minnesota has already won four straight Big Ten games for the first time in four years and won at in Wisconsin's Kohl Center for the first time in 10 tries.

Junior guard Westbrook averaged 15 points a game in the first eight Big Ten contests, and he has reached double figures in 17 of 19 games he's played. No other Gopher averaged better than 9.4 points in conference play, but like Illinois it's been hard to predict who's hot, who's not.

Junior forward Damian Johnson scored 18 points in the 67-63 win at Indiana Sunday. Sophomore point guard Al Nolen is second in the Big Ten and 10th in the nation with a 2.97 assist-turnover ratio. Minnesota has 11 players averaging 10.8 minutes or more.

"After our Purdue and Northwestern (losses), coach really emphasized passing to the post,'' said Sampson, the son of former 7-foot-4 Virginia star Ralph Sampson. "We were able to come out and execute that plan.''

Dan Coleman, Lawrence McKenzie and Spencer Tollackson, three seniors last year, helped Smith with the transition.

"It gave Nolen, Johnson and Westbrook a chance to get a little bit of experience with coach Smith,'' Weber said. "Now you added a good young group of freshmand and junior-college guys, they play with Tubby's passion. They keep coming at you.''

Illinois hasn't lost to Minnesota since Feb. 3, 1999. About a month later, Illinois began the streak as a No. 11 seed by defeating Minnesota in the Big Ten Tournament on a run to the championship game. Illinois has won its last eight games in Williams Arena, including two victories (2001, 2002) that allowed the Illini to return home with a share of the Big Ten regular-season title.

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